Sanctum and War
by bloodbaby1
Summary: Anthem aka Angel has allowed Rick's group to join Sanctum. Sanctum is a bunch of town houses that Anthem secured and covered with traps for Walkers and humans. Once the group enters the area they find themselves at peace execpt a threat is beginning to arise. If you thought the Govner was bad just wait until you meet the new guy...Aaron. (Other character realtionships involved too)
1. Ch1:Good ol' whatshername

It was silent, aside from the few times the leaves rustled together from the wind. It was the summer time, this predator remembered spending her summer days swimming in the pool with friends. Days like that don't exist anymore, she had no friends. She clearly only had herself as she stalked her many prey. Despite the July heat, she was covered head to toe in long black pants, worn down combat boots, and a long sleeve turtle neck sweater. Why was she wearing all of that? Well no one ever knew, and those who found out were already dead. Her name was Anthem, she was given the name by someone in her past. She didn't remember who though, all the pain that she'd endured, the loneliness, the running and the death that surrounded her- each one of them took its toll on her psyche. Eventually Anthem had forgotten her real name, she vaguely remembered the people she traveled with or the people she loved. She remembered the pool though, she wondered why. There was someone she knew at that pool, the person that gave her the nickname. A strand of dark brown hair waved in her face as the wind blew. She took in a breath and watched her steps as she stalked the Walkers surrounding the gate of the pool. She threw her knife with precession, she had practiced enough to know how to hit her target on the mark. One down, three to go. She pulled out the knives she altered so that the handle wrapped around her hand. She slashed the Walker to her right from the stomach up to his head. She slit the throat of the Walker to her left then jammed her blade through his skull. The other Walker was making his way towards her and she walked up to it and stabbed him straight through the forehead. She reclaimed the knife that she threw to kill the first Walker and climbed over the fence. The place wasn't a gated community but the pool was only used for those who lived in the neighborhood. She looked around at the area, checking for other Walkers. She walked into the changing rooms and smelt death all over, she'd become accustomed to the smell. As she pulled back the curtain to a shower a Walker jumped out at her. Anthem grabbed it by its shoulders and slammed it against the wall head first. Her hand was covered with it's blood, she was disgusted by the blood but wiped her hands on her pants. She searched further through the pool area and found the first aid kit. There were some band aids, some gauze and alcohol pads. She found better first aid kits in a fast food place but she took it anyway. She looked at the sky and looked towards the sun, from the looks of it the time was about noon. She was out on a supply run but there wasn't much to find so she headed back to her place. She had secured enough homes and a perimeter around the neighborhood that if anybody, human or Walker tried to come in they would be killed immediately. In a world like this, you couldn't trust the living any more than you could trust a Walker not to eat you. The only way to live was to trust yourself, develop your skills and kill anyone who tried to take what you have.

Daryl, Michonne, Carl, Carol and Rick were all headed towards a neighborhood. They had been walking for a few hours. Tyrese, Sasha, Glenn, Maggie and Beth followed behind at their own pace. It had been awhile since the group had a chance to eat or a safe place where they all could sleep. When Rick saw the neighborhood, he faltered. The place looked like someone was living there. He stopped the group, they needed to proceed with caution. There wasn't a warning to stay away but there certainly wasn't a welcome mat laid out for them. The first few buildings were surrounded by logs with sharp points all pointed outwards. There was a Walker stuck in one at the moment, it was still moving but it really didn't have a way to move. There was a second barrier just like that, perhaps if there was a chance that there was a herd that came and knocked down the first defense then enough of them would've been taken out and would be killed in the second defense. After that it was up to whoever built the barrier to kill the Walkers that may have gotten by it. Rick headed towards the barrier, slowly just to check things out but Daryl didn't feel right about the place. There was something familiar about it, something familiar about the design of the walls. The way the perimeter was made, he could've sworn he knew someone who did something like that. For a moment he considered who it might have been and he screamed,

"Rick!"

Rick turned around and stopped mid-walk, Daryl shook his head. If he was right, there was a trap some where, anyone who came close would be in that trap. He walked up to Rick's side and used his vantage point to look around. His eyes darted around the ground as they searched for something that shouldn't be there.

"What is it?" Sasha asked.

"Looking to see if there are trip wires." Daryl said.

Rick looked at Daryl confused, whoever built this area didn't want anyone coming in. Rick searched with him and he saw something that seemed like a spider web. It shinned but it was hard to locate where it was. Rick got down lower and saw that it was some kind of fishing wire. Daryl was right ,there were trip wires. Walkers wouldn't have the good sense to avoid it but how did Daryl know to look for it? The group was interested but Daryl was still looking around, if he was right they weren't going to survive if they tried to get closer.

"Step back." Daryl warned.

Everyone took a step back without asking but they still looked around trying to figure out what was going on.

"What's wrong?" Glenn asked.

"Something's not right." Daryl said.

Suddenly a warning shot was fired by Daryl's foot. Daryl looked in the direction of where the bullet came from; everyone stammered back, each one grabbing their weapons and looking around to see where others might be. Daryl saw a figure on the roof get up and leave. A few minutes later a woman covered head to toe in black was walking towards the first barrier. Daryl recognized her although she had more of a vicious look in her eyes, the eyes of a savage hunter. A cold blooded predator. Her hazel eyes with hints of green accenting them seemed cold as ice. If eyes were the door to the soul then hers were not only closed and locked but frozen shut. This wasn't the girl he remembered but he could never guess the things she'd done and seen since he last saw her. Last time he saw her she was good at hunting, she had no problem with killing Walkers but she never once raised a weapon to a human. She was harmless more or less but now she was just like the Walkers, a cold body. She raised her gun to them after passing the first two barriers and said,

"State you business."

"We're looking for a place to stay." Rick answered.

"I don't welcome outsiders here, the only person that passes these barriers living is me." She said.

Her gaze rolled over all of the members counting them one by one. She didn't believe she could trust them however they could be helpful when it came to her next run. There was a building about two miles away from here that had supplies but it was surrounded by Walkers. She didn't mind wasting the bullets but she wasn't capable of carrying everything out. Tyrese's size seemed to be a plus as well as the other men, they seemed capable of carrying enough supplies. Of course that meant having to give them something in return. Anthem seemed to falter she stepped back as if a flash hit her. Daryl stepped forward for a second then stopped. Something was wrong with her, she regained her composure and held the gun towards him. She blinked a few times, why did he seem familiar to her. She couldn't remember, she couldn't think about it.

"Wait, please. We have a baby." Rick said.

He turned back to look at Carol who was holding baby Judith. Anthem looked at the baby, she felt bad for the kid, she didn't bet it had long to live.

"I do not want you here." She said.

She was looking at Daryl again, she didn't move her gaze because she knew there was something about him that was familiar.

"Angel?" He said.

She looked at him confused. She turned to the others to see who he was talking to. He couldn't have been talking to her could he? Daryl called her again,

"Angel. It's me." he said.

"My name's not Angel. I don't know who you." she said upset.

Daryl thought for a second, what was that name he used to call her. She preferred the name when Merle said it, the way he said Angel creeped her out.

"Look we can help you, we can take care of ourselves we just need a place to stay." Rick said walking closer.

She turned to Rick her gun raised at him,

"Stop right there, come any closer and you will die. This place is covered in traps only I can guide you through them."

Rick stopped, he was aware of the traps and he wasn't ready to get killed. Carl grabbed his dad by his arm and pulled him back. The other came over to him asking him what they were going to do now. Daryl was still trying to remember the name he used to call her. He remembered her following him around all the time, like a puppy dog. When they were among the living they used to go swimming at the pool in the community. She invited him over on her swimming pass to hang out. What the hell did he call her? Daryl couldn't remember,

"What's wrong with you?" he asked her.

"The world is crawling with cold bodies that feed off of the living. The living are targeting each other taking what they have to try and survive. Forgive me if hospitality isn't my strong suit but you can't trust the living anymore than you can trust the dead." she said.

"Anthem!" He said shouted.

"How do you know me?" she said.

He realized when she said hospitality what he used to call her. He gave her that name because she always hummed the national Anthem. She sang all the time but the National Anthem was her favorite to sing when warming up. When the dead started coming back to life and the living started turning on each other, Angel wanted to be nice to those who were living. She believed that survivors should stay with survivors. She was naïve but she always called her hospitality a form of patriotism because Americans tended to unite when disaster struck. She used nine eleven as a reference to that, it was coming back to him a little but she wasn't sure who he was. He wondered why she didn't recognize him, he hadn't changed aside from his hair being a bit long but he looked the same.

"You know her?" Carol asked.

"Yeah she used to hang out with me an my brother. We were separated by the group we were originally traveling with. They had different views then me and Merle. She left because of him, you know all his racist comments had finally sent her over the edge. She put up with him for me." Daryl explained.

"She looks like she's just a kid." Carol said.

"Yeah she had a baby face but don't trust it. Her eyes are cold now, she's not like she used to be. She doesn't remember me though."

"Hey! What are you talking about?" She shouted at them.

"Anthem I know you, I'm the idiot that gave you that name." Daryl said.

She stared at him, he knew her. She could benefit from keeping him around. He could help her remember, she turned to the side and shot at a Walker coming towards the barrier.

"Turn around." she said.

"Anthem." Daryl started.

"I don't trust you! So until you prove to me that I can you're not getting in here."

"How do we do that?" Maggie asked.

"I'll tell you once I get out there, now turn around." she shouted.

They looked to Rick and Rick looked to Daryl, he nodded and they turned around. Daryl knew the girl he once knew wasn't in there any more. The girl he knew wouldn't dream of shooting another human let alone hold a gun to them. Whatever she had been through had changed her for what seemed like the worst but it could also be the reason she's still alive. It wasn't long before Anthem was right behind them and said,

"You can turn around."

The gang turned around to see her up close to them. She was young, probably in her early twenties. She had light brown skin, she looked mixed but she wasn't; from what Daryl knew, she was black she just had light skinned parents. She had a little bit of her stomach showing, it didn't seem to be on purpose because it happened when ever she raised her arms up. Now that she was closer, Daryl could see just how cold her eyes really were.

"I don't play nice with others, but if you can help me make a supply run, I'll show you how to get in without setting off the traps. You could live here for all I care. However you prove to me that I can't trust you, I'll kill you myself. Including the kid." she said.

There was no doubt in their mind that she was serious. It was a little unnerving however she had what seemed to be the safest place since the jail.

"Who's your leader?" She asked.

"I am." Rick said.

She turned to him,

"There's a building about two miles from here, it's sort of a storage house. There are guns, bottles of water, and food. I found it about three weeks ago, I was able to get in there once but some Walkers came after me. I usually handle runs on my own but there was a lot of stuff in there I can't bring it all back on my own. Each time I show up it seems like there are more and more walkers. Can you and your group go with me to clean it out, completely I mean." she asked him.

Rick turned to his people and then to her,

"We can make the trip however, two people have to stay behind. One to take care of my daughter and the other to fend off any Walkers."

"They would have to stay out here, no one gets in without my consent. However they can feel free to use the traps to their advantage."

Rick looked to Carol and Tyrese,

"We can handle it." Carol said.

Anthem looked to them, she didn't understand why they were so willing to trust each other. So willing to offer to separate from the group for a little while. Rick said,

"If we do this for you, you'll let us in there. No tricks? No catch?"

"Let me put it this way. You all survive and get back here I'll have to show you through the front door anyway because I can't get all the supplies in by myself. Once you're in I'll show you around, I'll give you an area to stay and we don't have to see or speak to each other unless you're leaving or trying to invite others in. Like I said, I don't play nice with others but I need your help. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. Your buddy says he knows me right, well if that's true you can ask him if I'm a woman of my word." She said looking at Daryl.

Daryl never knew her to make a promise she didn't keep. He nodded at Rick and Rick agreed, they shook on it and Rick and Anthem gathered the group together to make a plan. This was the beginning of the groups journey. What they didn't know was that Sanctum was about to meet it's biggest rival. It would require the strength of each person in that group to do what they had to do in order to stay alive... To be continued...

**Check in a day or two for the next chapter. Leave a review if you'd like. Tell what you liked tell me what you hated. I'd like everyone to understand right now this is not a story where Daryl is involved in a romantic relationship. Daryl is just the connection of how Anthem (Angel) becomes a part of the group.**


	2. Ch2:The Photo

**Sorry it took so long to upload but I got busy with work and other stuff. Anyway here's the next Chapter enjoy!**

The group had made their way to the shed like little cabin, there were plenty of Walkers surrounding it. The group slowly walked up to the area it didn't take much for the group to kill the Walkers off. Now that there was more than one person following Anthem it took a lot less time getting into the shed. She searched through the rooms while the others searched for food in the kitchen and the closets for any other kind of supplies. They filled the bags up until they were completely full,

"There's a lot of stuff here, could they have known what was going to happen?" Carl asked.

"Nah, it's not like that. This place used to be one of Meryl's sheds we where hiding food here; every once in a while we'd go out hunting for days at a time so we'd stock up on supplies and food just incase we didn't get anything good." Daryl explained.

In fact Anthem was supposed to accompany them just before the world went to hell. She was excited and prepared to leave the house for a few days she couldn't wait. Daryl remembered that smile, it was weird to him not seeing it on her now. Back then he said she smiled too much and it bugged him, he didn't understand how she could be so happy all the time. Even when she told him 'I'm always happy when I'm around you because...I'm around you' the explanation didn't register in his mind. It was clear that Anthem had a bit of a crush on Daryl but with him being much older than her and Meryl being a jerk to her all the time she never let her crush grow into anything dangerous. She was more excited to just being hanging around him all the time, she had fun hunting. He taught her the basics but from there she had to improve her skills. Daryl realized in the past he just put up with her presence and anything he taught her it was so that she would be less of a bother to him later on. There was only one time he got really pissed off at her where he actually screamed at her to leave him alone and that he never wanted to see her face again. She didn't realize that he was having personal problems at the time she had actually thought she was doing something wrong. She spent the entire night trying to figure out what she had done to make him so angry. Daryl enjoyed the few weeks that she avoided him but it was a little lonely for him as well. After getting so used to having her hang around him it was like he was missing an extra appendage. He ran into her going to the market and unconsciously invited her to go hunting with him and Meryl. She refused the first time but two days later called about a pool party that she was having in the neighborhood.

Daryl searched in the places he kept his secret stash and filled his bag. Daryl noticed out of the corner of his eye a picture sitting on the desk holding his little TV. It was a picture of Anthem and Daryl hugging each other at that same pool that Anthem had taken out a few Walkers. Daryl folded the picture and placed it in his pocket. The group made there way back to the cars they took from outside the barriers Anthem set up and packed them with their full bags. Anthem then drove them back to Sanctum and showed them the way through the traps so that they could go out anytime they wanted to. She showed them which homes were for supplies and which homes they could live in. Carol, Michonne, and Beth shared an apartment and each got their own room. Sasha and Tyrese were in the apartment next to them, Maggie and Glenn shared a room in another apartment area and Daryl took an apartment next to them for himself. Rick, Carl and Judith shared an apartment on the higher level at Rick's request. Anthem stayed in a building away from them, as she was showing them around she said,

"I start to cook meet over the fire before the sun goes down. Make sure you come and make everything you intend to eat for your dinner. When the sun goes down no food is allowed to be cooked."

"Why not?" Carl asked.

"Walkers. The smell of meet attracts them, so we cook the meet during the day. If walkers come out we can at least see them to kill them." she answered.

"You've got this place trapped and enclosed shouldn't you be fine." Michonne asked.

"No, it's a pain in the ass to reset all those traps besides, I'm not sure how well the barrier holds up against hordes. I'd like very much to dodge attracting them if I can."

As they were walking Anthem walked past a building that had blood on it's windows and doors. Carl stopped to look at it but Anthem and the group continued walking on. It wasn't until Anthem looked behind her to face Rick as she was talking that she noticed Carl standing by the window and trying to look in.

"Hey!" Anthem screamed and stormed over to him.

The group ,with a panicked Rick and Daryl leading, headed towards the two. Anthem grabbed Carl and whipped him away from the window.

"Stay the hell away from there!" Anthem yelled.

She was so upset she hadn't released her grip from his wrist. Carl was trying to pull away claiming that she was hurting him. Rick and Daryl had caught up to them and Rick pushed Anthem away from Carl.

"Don't you ever put your hands on my son again." Rick said.

"Rick stop!" Daryl said coming between the two.

Anthem hadn't said a word as far as she was concerned she got her message across. No one was to go near that building, what was in there haunted her so much so she couldn't even go in there but she wouldn't let them know that. Rick went back to Carl to see if he was alright his wrist was a bit sore but nothing too bad.

"All of you are to stay away from this building, do not go in it, do not walk around it, don't even look at it. Those doors and windows are to stay shut no matter what!" Anthem said.

Her expression went dark quickly, Daryl didn't know who this woman was but she wasn't the same girl that followed him around with such a bright spirit. Sure this world had a way of changing people but he never thought she could change so much.

"Your tour ends here, I'm going to keep watch do what you will." With that she turned around and walked away from the group.

Rick looked at the door of the town house that Carl was searching. The dried blood on the windows and doors made him worried that where they were staying was a dangerous place. Rick looked to Daryl, Daryl was staring back watching Anthem leave; his hand gripped the photo in his pocket. Funny how back then he didn't even want to take the photo in the first place; he didn't even want to keep it but now he clung to it hoping that some how it would bring Angel back and leave Anthem in the past.

~XxX~

Aaron's men walked around the girls sitting in the middle of the room. They used a whip to spook them every now and again. The three girls were tied together, blood on their cheeks, arms and legs. Their eyes were stained with tears, their hair were in tangled messes. These men weren't human they were animals. They soon left the room to stand on the other side of the glass allowing the girls to struggle as they allowed Walkers to surrounded them. For some reason their screams enticed the men more, made them laugh and watch carefully with animal eyes. Aaron watched but his face stayed blank, there wasn't much entertainment to be found in their actions but he wanted to keep his men happy so that they would continue to work for him. One of the walkers got close enough to one of the women and scratched her leg, his men didn't notice it but Aaron had.

"Enough!" Aaron shouted.

His men looked at him and watched as he walked into the room. They sat and watched from the other side of the glass. Aaron walked in and shot the walkers straight in the head, there was no beat in his shooting the gun just kept going off. When the four walkers were dead, he turned to the girl that was scratched and shot her in the head. The other two girls began to scream in horror and cry at the same time. He told them to shut up and then walked out without looking back. One of the guys stood up his name was Arnold,

"What'd you do that for boss? That one was mine."

"She was scratched." Aaron answered not looking at him.

He was walking away while he was talking but Arnold followed. His other men went to grab up the females that they had tied up to return them to their cells.

"Just because she was scratched doesn't mean I couldn't have a little fun with her before she turned. Besides we could've just cut the infected area she would've been fine."

Aaron whipped around, his face hard and stern. He said,

"What's rule number one Arnold?"

Arnold stumbled back when his boss suddenly turned around. The sudden question slowed his reaction,

"What is it!" Aaron screamed.

"No infected."

"Exactly, you're lucky I let you bring those walkers into the interrogation room for sport. Now get those bodies out of here and get ready for patrol duty." Aaron said.

"Yes boss."

Arnold turned around and helped get rid of the bodies with his other members that had returned from locking up the girls. Aaron used to despise men like Arnold, the kind that thought they could get away with anything. The kind of guy that used women to please himself, it was disgusting and even now in this hated world where you couldn't trust the living any more than you could trust the dead Aaron still hated men like Arnold. However he had to keep him and his men happy so that they would do what he said, so that they could stay alive. Aaron and his group took over a police station, it was the perfect place for them to stay. They had weapons, beds and cells; the police station was all they really needed however they wanted to keep it safe. Arnold wanted to find groups of people and take their women, kill the kids and only keep the men that were useful and that they could control. Most of Aaron's men were animals and he didn't care one bit, all he wanted to do was survive and that required these people...These men.

~XxX~

Anthem had fallen asleep on the roof, she had a small fire burning to keep her warm as she kept look out, admittedly she was keeping an eye on her new companions, if that's what she could call them. Sleep had come over her though and it wasn't long before she dozed off, her memories of life before the apocalypse ran through her head, she saw people she couldn't remember. Those memories had haunted her since she'd lost her memories in the first place. The strange thing about it was that she couldn't pin point the exact time she'd lost her memories. It was like she woke up one day and her entire past was forgotten. She figured something had gotten to her, something had messed with her head. She'd seen so much death that it didn't bother her anymore, perhaps it was when she first witnessed a brutal death. Or perhaps she was hit on the back of the head by the people she was supposed to trust the most. The men in her group had manipulated and raped the woman including her as one of the girls had told her but she didn't remember that either. The memories just flashed, bits and pieces tried to return to her mind but even when she woke up in a sweat, panting and terrified she still couldn't remember a thing. Even the images that had flashed through her brain had dissolved, like water on a hot stove. Tonight was no different from any other night as far as her nightmares went. She once again woke in a sweat panting but this time she'd held out her gun to the man facing her at the moment.

Daryl stepped back putting his hands up,

"Whoa! Hold on there Angel, it's just me." he said.

"What are you doing up here?" she said upset her gun still raised to him.

"You had the fire going I thought something might be happening, you said no fire at night fall right?" Daryl asked.

"I said you can't cook anything after night fall the smell attracts the walkers not the fire. At least not all the time." she murmured the last part.

"Can you put the gun down?"

"I don't trust you. So no." She answered.

"Me? You got some nerve, you're the one that went crazy when Carl tried to look in the window of the Smiths town house."

Anthem gave him a strange look, he knew who's house that was? Of course he did he said he knew her but she didn't remember him and if she could change then so could he. She didn't want to trust him but looking at him pulled at her chest for some reason, she felt like she needed to trust him. That didn't make her put the gun down though, Daryl sighed,

"Well if you insist on keeping the gun on me do you mind if I sit down?"

She didn't say anything but the look in her eyes had given him some sort of answer and he took his seat. He looked up at the sky and saw the stars out; he started to reach for his pocket and Anthem raised her gun higher,

"Whoa whoa whoa!" she said.

"I'm just getting a cig. Is that okay?"

Anthem lowered the gun without saying anything else, she watched him closely as he pulled out the cigarette. He leaned over towards the fire trying to get a good light, he released a puff of smoke and Anthem waved it away from her face. Daryl chuckled,

"Sorry forgot you hate these things."

"…..Who are you to me?" She asked curious.

Daryl looked at the sky his hand in his pocket once again gripping the picture he'd taken from the cabin earlier that day.

"I'm just a friend." he said looking at the stars.

He blew another puff of smoke, back then he may not have been the best friend in the world but with everything that was going on in his life if he had told her about it she would've understood. Now if he had told her everything he'd gone through up till now he wasn't sure whether or not she would really care. He didn't want to admit it but he hated not knowing her anymore. He hated that he wasn't sure who she was. He was hoping there was one way to spark her memory, to bring that girl back again.

"Can you sing the Anthem for me?" Daryl asked.

His request caught her off guard she looked at him strangely and said,

"Anthem?"

"The National Anthem, you do remember that don't you? You used to sing it all the time it used to drive me nuts." Daryl chuckled.

"So why would I sing it now?"

"I forgot the words. Most of them anyway, let me see didn't it start out something like 'Oh say can you see by the dawns ugly light.'"

"Early light." She corrected unconsciously.

"Right? See I told you I forgot the words. Not like I knew them from the beginning in the first place though." Daryl said.

Anthem shook her head at his comment, there was a moment of silence before Anthem unconsciously began to hum the National Anthem and then she broke out into the words.

"What so proudly we hail at the twilights last gleaming and the rockets read glare. The bombs bursting in air, gave proof to the night that our flag was still there. O say does that star spangled banner yet wave. For the land and of the freeeee and the home of the braveeeee."

Her voice was like a little whisper but he could hear her and it sounded good. Daryl eventually closed his own eyes being soothed by Anthem's voice. Anthem stared at him, she felt uncomfortable for some reason but she couldn't say what it was. She did know him, she could feel it she just didn't know who he was. It was weird for her to say that or rather to think that but it was the truth; she knew him but how close were they before? She asked herself the biggest question of all, could she really trust him?


	3. Ch3: No Control

A week passed with Rick's group being a part of Sanctum. Michonne had made more of an attempt to talk to Anthem then Rick or any of the others did, not including Daryl. Anthem didn't trust her much either but she found it easier to open up to her rather then Daryl or any other man. Michonne suggested to Rick that maybe he should talk to her a little more. Rick had to make an attempt to be civil towards Anthem as long as they were staying with her. Rick tried to make an attempt to talk to her when he saw her coming back from a hunt. Rick walked up to her saying,

"Hey can I talk to you for a second?"

Anthem looked at him for a moment but she never stopped walking; she was checking to see how far away he was from her. She was satisfied with his distance and said,

"If it's about the kid I haven't touched him since. I'll admit I was a bit rough with him but he shouldn't have gone near that place. None of you should."

"Yeah, I get that- but I need to make sure we're on the same page. Now Michonne said she's talked to and that she sees something in you that I'm not."

Rick grabbed her arm gently but Anthem stopped pulling it back almost startled by the touch. She looked at him with pleading eyes at first then her face turned hard. They'd stopped walking, they were standing out in the open where if anyone was walking by they could see them. Anthem hadn't said a word and Rick had kept silent only to process what he'd just seen. He looked her up and down as if sizing her up would tell him what she had been through. She had no permeant, physical scars that he could see but perhaps the scars she carried were on the inside. Rick sighed and leaned on his other leg before wiping his head,

"Daryl says he knew you, once."

"I wouldn't know if that's true but you trust him. Would he have any reason to lie to you?" she said quite indifferent.

"No, Daryl is one of us. He's my brother and my group, the people I came here with, are my family. Now the last thing I want to do is have them stay in a place where they can get hurt. I need to know that I can trust you. I need to know that this is a safe place to stay and that I don't have to worry about you contemplating killing us at night." Rick said.

Anthem looked at him with blank eyes, she looked over to the door where Beth was walking out of the town house Rick's family was staying in. She had Judith in her arms and Carl was walking with her. Carl had seen her and Rick standing next to each other; noticing Carl's glance Beth turned to look as well. They stared at each other and then Beth told Carl to come along with her as they walked with Baby Judith. Anthem's face seemed to soften a little but her words were like knives.

"I have no interest in killing things that pose no threat to me. However the minute your group changes I'll show no mercy,"

She turned to him,

"We all have a past, we've all done things we can't change. Can't forget," she said looking down.

She took in a breath as if remembering her own past that haunted her,

"Sanctum has a way of changing people for the worst. The last thing I want to do is drag your group into that hell. Your choice is to stay or to leave but if you stay what you do here will be on you. Blood's been shed here, mine and others you can't go back from that. If one of you reach a point where you can't go back, where you have no control you will die. I'm pretty honest Rick, I'll tell you everything you want or need to know aside from the few secrets that are mine and mine alone. So trust me when I tell you this, as long as you're here and you follow the rules of Sanctum your group is safe from me. The moment you become a threat, I'll put you down. The baby will go too, it's not a threat, it's not an ultimatum, it's just the way this world works now. You live or you die, you do anything to live or you become useless and die."

Rick looked at her, her words were harsh. Whatever her past had done to her he could hear it's effect on her. Even through the harsh words, it didn't feel like she was someone to fear but at the same time she wasn't someone to take lightly. Her words were true, Rick could feel it. Sanctum didn't have too many rules, the group would be fine as long as they didn't do anything to seem like a threat. Rick nodded to her and Anthem seemed to dip her head almost like a bow and then turned to walk away with her dead squirrels.

"Anthem!" Rick called.

"What is it?" she said turning around.

"I don't think I thanked you for letting us in. So thank you for everything you've done." Rick said.

She looked at him confused that he had thanked her in the first place. Anthem smiled a little bit at her own confusion. Rick saw the smile and he smiled back then he walked off...

~XxX~

Aaron was in the interrogation room again, Arnold was beating the hell out of one of their soldiers. Aaron simply watched while he wrapped his bleeding knuckles in a bandage. Aaron called Arnold and told him to back off,

"Now are you going to tell us where you were going?" Aaron said.

"We were just going to leave Aaron I promise."

"Liar!" Aaron kicked him in the face.

"Stop!" his wife cried.

Arnold held the captive's wife back while she was holding her son. They were apart of Aaron's group but once you were apart of them you couldn't leave them. The captive's name was Leo his wife Alexandra was forced to watch as Arnold and Aaron beat the living day lights out of Leo. Aaron kneeled down in front of Leo and said,

"Tell me Leo, where the hell were you going?"

"We were just leaving we weren't going any where."

"Okay. Arnold you can take his wife and let the boy watch." Aaron said standing up and walking over to the door.

Arnold grabbed Alexandra by her hair and the boy by his shirt. His son was crying and his wife was screaming for Arnold to let her go.

"Wait! Dear God wait!" Leo screamed.

His eyes were burning with tears watching his family in that terror. He had endured the beating hoping that maybe they would have another chance to run and this time make it out alive. He couldn't let them hurt his son or his wife. He had to say something. Aaron turned around and gave a look to Arnold that signaled him to let go of Alexandra and her son. Aaron turned to Leo and said,

"I'm listening."

"There's a group of town houses. I saw a girl going back and forth out of it for a few days. She lives there." Leo said.

"A girl huh?" Arnold smirked with hunger wiped across his mouth.

He was just itching to find another girl to get inside of. He was such a dog and Aaron's glare towards him let Arnold know to keep his cool when they got her. He wanted information from her, to see if she was useful to the group as a soldier; if she wasn't Arnold could have her then. Boy was Arnold hoping she was a useless fighter.

"Who is this girl?" Aaron asked.

"I don't know, I really don't I never talked to her I just watched her. She seems to go out on a schedule. Every two days she goes out at noon, I assume to go hunting she's out for an hour before she comes back."

"Is anyone else there with her?" Aaron asked.

"I haven't seen anyone else, she doesn't go out with any one and she doesn't come back with enough food for more then herself. I assume she's alone." Leo said.

Aaron looked at Arnold and sighed,

"Do you know if she went hunting today?"

"She did, we were going to try and catch her just as she was coming back but it didn't happen. You'll have to wait another two days before she goes out past her walls again. She never goes out at night."

"Alright, you and your family can go, Arnold please escort them out." Aaron said.

Arnold nodded and helped Leo up, he pushed Alexandra and their boy in front of them. As he walked out behind them Aaron saw him touch his gun. Arnold took Leo, Alexandra and their boy out and one by one executed them. Aaron's focus was now set on the sights of this mystery girl Leo had seen. If she's hunting for food she can be useful to the group which means she would be off limits to Arnold and he wouldn't like that. How old was she any way? He forgot to ask about that. Aaron sighed, Arnold and Jericho could go and find her and take her. If she was a hunter they might need force to take her down.

~XxX~

"I think we should do something for her you know?" Maggie said to Glenn.

They were outside hanging up clothes to dry and she could see Anthem staring into space as if she were watching for any intruders that might be coming near. She had heard something when she went out hunting. Something strange, like a child's scream but when she looked around she didn't see a thing. She had wondered if there was a kid out there some where, she didn't check though she figured if they were heading her way in the first place they'd eventually find Sanctum but no one came. The troubled look on Anthem's face made Maggie feel for her. She was all alone and she had no memory of the one person in the group that knew her before the apocalypse started. Glenn looked back seeing her standing there and turned to Maggie,

"Like what?"

"I don't know, we could have like a bar-b-que or something. Just show her that we appreciate her allowing us to come in here and live. This place is safe we can't leave it not after the prison." Maggie said.

Glenn shrugged,

"We should talk to Daryl about it, he knows her best. He could help, especially if she's the type that's easily spooked by surprises. The last thing we need is for her to shoot any of us cause she got scared."

"Yeah you're right." Maggie said with a little laugh.

She leaned over towards Glenn and kissed him quickly before going back to cleaning up clothes. Daryl walked up to Anthem he seemed to be off, upset for some reason. Anthem looked at him strangely and backed up a little as he came towards her. Daryl opened his hand to show her a gold charm bracelet in his hand.

"This is Terrie's bracelet, she never took this off. What happened to her Angel?" Daryl said.

Anthem looked at the bracelet and something in her mind flashed. A memory of the bracelet being worn by someone. Anthem backed away from Daryl with hollow eyes,

"What the hell happened Angel? What happened to your group?" he said.

"Where did you find that?"

"It was in the town house I was staying in it was under the couch. What happened to everyone Angel? Answer me."

"You don't understand Daryl." she said.

"What, did you kill them? What the hell happened to everyone?" Daryl said pissed.

Maggie, Glenn and Rick all had run over hearing the commotion. Michonne and the others soon followed after seeing the group come around them. Daryl stepped up closer to her but Anthem backed away.

"Angel, where is everyone? Buda, Raymond, Terrie, Cassandra, Mike... Lilly, Meghan?" Daryl said naming off the group of people he'd left with her.

"You just don't get it. Humans are so stupid, they think they can control everything and everyone. Buda, Raymond, Mike- all the men you just named died. I killed them, I killed them all."

The group looked at her shocked by her confession. Daryl looked like he was in pain, who was this girl he was looking at?

"Why?" He asked.

"They wanted control. They raped Terrie, Cassie, Lilly, Meghan and me everyday... Meghan finally decided to take her own life and let a walker eat her alive. We never saw it but we heard her screams; we saw her body afterwards. Lilly was beaten to death by Buda."

"No Buda loved Lilly she was just a kid." Daryl said.

"Lilly was useless. Whatever he felt for her it was gone. Who ever those men were, they were gone. Even with those two dead they still raped us, they pushed Terrie down and beat her up until they were sure she wasn't pregnant any more and then they raped her again. It got to a point we were so used to being raped we didn't even scream anymore. We just lied there waiting for them to finish. I don't know what happened all I know is that I had to survive. So when I had the chance I killed them. I killed Buda, I killed Mike and I let the walkers have Raymond. They had to die."

"What about Terrie and Cassie?"

"They were weak, Sanctum wouldn't survive with them around. They lost their minds, they had to die. Every last one of them fought for control; they failed to understand what you are failing to grasp Daryl! There is no control! There is no control."

Anthem fell to the ground, she didn't cry she didn't even look like she was breathing for a moment. Daryl looked at her shaking his head, this is what she had been hiding from him. This is what she was holding inside of her all along. No wonder she'd lost her memory, she had so much trauma inside of her that she couldn't possibly trust him or any of the guys. Daryl still wondered what was in that building. Perhaps it was where she was raped, those memories alone were scary for someone to open that door it was like an atom bomb going off to her.

"We can't control a damn thing in this world but they tried so hard to do it. It ended up killing them. They became the threat, they were a bigger threat then the walkers. Walkers go off instinct like animals; it's like survival for them to just keep eating humans... but humans- humans want control. In this world, where there is no law, no consequences, no power, anything goes. There is no control."

**Tell me what you think. I think it's kind of moving fast but I have an idea in mind to kind of make up for that. Anyway leave a review please, criticism is welcome as long as it's constructive criticism. If you think I'm a bad writer tell me why don't just say you suck then bail out. Then no body wins. I don't get better and you keep reading crap so just tell the truth; do you like it? Do you hate it? Why? What do I need to fix? Those who did like it thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned for the next Chapter.**


End file.
